Given the recent statistics showing that one out of every four Koreans is diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, cancer is no doubt a major public health burden in Korea. In response to this, the Korean government has recently made a series of efforts to cope with this deadly disease, the most recent one of which is the legislation of the Cancer Control Act in 2003 and subsequent formulation and implementation of the National Cancer Control Programs (see page S3-4). Last year, the second-term cancer control plan for the following decade (2006-2015) was forged to strengthen the national cancer control activities, and the Editorial Board has decided that it is high time for the Journal to focus on cancer control and research activities in Korea.

I hope the readers of the Journal will have an in-depth look at the recent scientific efforts to fight against cancers in Korea. We also believe publishing this supplement will contribute to bring other accepted articles awaiting for their publication forward.